While most Koreans are packing up and heading off to their hometowns to celebrate Seollal, or Lunar New Year, with their families, expats living around Korea are making plans of their own. Some may travel abroad. Some may even attempt to travel around the country, despite the clogged highways and railways. But those who live in Seoul and have decided to stay put during this year’s four-day holiday, may be wondering just what is there to do other than the usual weekend activities. Luckily, differ

NAIROBI (AFP) ― Proudly pointing to her newly bought T-shirt, Sarah Mukei reads out animals printed on the front, a treasured souvenir of a family’s trip from her home in Kenya’s capital to Nairobi’s national park.“Elephant, lion, buffalo and rhino, leopard,” the 10-year old reads, adding she had just seen three of the “big five” animals listed.Going on safari ― meaning simply “travel” in east Africa’s Swahili language ― was once seen as a white colonial preserve, when khaki-clad big game hunter

CASS, West Virginia ― The Cass Scenic Railroad is a hard-working, up-the-mountain tourist rail line.It’s a slow 7 miles per hour on the steam-powered trains up Cheat Mountain to Whittaker Station and upward to Bald Knob on Back Allegheny Mountain.That’s a climb of nearly 2,400 feet in 11 miles to Bald Knob (one of the highest peaks in West Virginia) with grades of up to 11 percent.That means the locomotives, mostly Shay engines once used by old lumber operations, gain 11 vertical feet for every

‘The Obamas’ surprisingly lacks surpriseThe Obamas By Jodi Kantor(Little, Brown) With all the headlines about Jodi Kantor’s book on Barack and Michelle Obama, the biggest surprise about it is this: There aren’t any surprises.I learned little about the Obamas or the presidency that I didn’t know or imagine, and I’m not even a passionate follower of events in Washington. Well, one thing shocked me. Can you believe the White House residence has a spotty Internet connection and only one extension of

Voices of Foreign Brides: The Roots and Development of Multiculturalism in KoreaBy Kim Choong-soon(AltaMira Press)One of the stars to emerge from last year’s silver screen hit “Punch” was Jasmine Lee. The Filipino-born Korean actress and activist, who rose to prominence as a panelist on KBS TV’s multicultural show “Love in Asia,” also appeared as an immigrant in the box-office hit. Aside from the film and TV roles, Lee was appointed one of Seoul City’s first foreign civil servants last year. The

Staring down a no-good, gun-toting heir to a marijuana empire in rural Kentucky who’s just thrown a dead rat at his car, Raylan Givens stands unfazed.“You know how many wanted felons have given me that look?” he says, calm as a man on a Sunday stroll. “I say a thousand I know I’m low.”Cool.Raylan Givens is one cool character, whether he’s enforcing the law as a deputy U.S. marshal in Elmore Leonard’s new novel “Raylan” or on “Justified,” the taut, moody FX series that has become a critical favor

This is a zippy Trebbiano from an estate in Italy’s south dedicated to organic farming. I can remember when it was nearly impossible to find a crisp white from that region. But Cirelli’s 2010 Trebbiano d’Abruzzo is as refreshing as lemon sorbet. The fruit tastes ripe and golden, but the wine is bone dry.It’s just what’s needed if you’re serving a seafood salad or pasta. It’s great with vegetable soups, beans with tuna and grilled salmon. Who knew easygoing Trebbiano could have this kind of elega